


Cough Syrup

by safi



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fever, Peter Needs a Hug, Sick Peter Parker, Sickfic, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Worried Tony Stark, bc that shit wRECKED ME, before endgame, everything is okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 10:35:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18809434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/safi/pseuds/safi
Summary: Apparently underage people aren't allowed to buy cough syrup.Peter isn't aware of this, and when he is sick in the middle of the night, he needs a certain billionaire to buy the medicine for him.Honestly, what even is his life.





	Cough Syrup

“Aunt May, I’m totally fine. Nothing’s burned down or broken.” Peter assured his Aunt on her third call of the day. He sighed and stifled a few coughs as May described her beautiful hotel room and the sun-kissed palm trees of Florida. He yearned to escape the bitter cold of New York. The cold seemed to seep into him every patrol and huddling under his hoodie never seemed to keep the chills at bay. Even the heater inside his suit could only do so much.

“Aunt May, it’s getting kind of late and I need to go study for my chemistry test tomorrow. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love you.” He said after a few more minutes of her raving about the sunshine. She said her goodbyes and Peter ended the call. 

He flopped over in bed and looked at the clock. 10:07. It was almost time for him to head out, but the ache that had slowly settled in his bones was draining his energy and all he wanted to do was go to sleep. But, someone had to look out for the people of New York. It was his job and he couldn’t let some achiness and a little coughing stop him. He grabbed his backpack and swung out into the night.

***

The clock glowed 2:18 as Peter finally crawled back into his room. It started snowing an hour into his patrol and to make the situation worse, his suit heater had malfunctioned, leaving only his hoodie to combat the slushy snow. 

He coughed deeply as he peeled the suit from his body. Not even bothering to redress, Peter flopped down on his bed and was asleep before he could think about his unfinished homework and the chemistry material that had yet to be studied.

***

Peter awoke to heat. 

Everything was too hot, too much. 

He stood to crack his window and hopefully find respite from the stiflingly thick air in his room. The second he was upright, black dots assaulted his vision and he crumpled to the floor. 

Something wasn't right. 

Shakily getting to his feet, Peter coughed long and hard as he realized congestion had set in. He dug through the medicine cabinet in search of something, anything, to make him feel better. He came up with a thermometer and a jar of Vicks Vapor rub, but nothing else. He leaned his head on the cool shower tile as he waited for the thermometer to give him a reading. 

He had just started to drift off when the thermometer gave 3 quick beeps. Peter scrubbed a hand over his face as he looked at the tiny glowing numbers. 102.9. He had no medicine, no adults, and he felt worse every passing minute. He weighed his options. He could text Ned, but he doubted his best friend would be up at 4:00 on a school morning. He could walk to the pharmacy across the street, but he still felt woozy, too hot, and was beginning to get a little nauseous. He could call Mr. Stark, but he’d prefer to not call him unless it was an absolute emergency. 

Pharmacy it was.

***

“Sorry, kid. Only people over the age of 18 can buy medicine containing dextromethorphan. That includes Nyquil,” the cashier at CVS explained to Peter. In all honestly, he felt bad for the kid. He looked too pale to be healthy and had been coughing since he walked in 12 minutes ago.

“I don’t think you understand. I’m not making meth with it or anything, I’m actually sick.”

“Sorry, little dude. Law’s a law. If you have someone old enough come and show me an I.D., you can have it.” Peter closed his eyes and tried to come up with a plan. None of his immediate friends were over 18. The only person he could think of was Tony. 

Peter had hoped with all his heart that it wouldn’t come to this; he hated annoying the billionaire. But, he was out of options. He needed medicine. Reluctantly pulling his phone, Peter pressed on the number he was looking for and put the phone to his ear. As it dialed he felt sweat drip down the sides of his face and coughs clawed up his throat. He did he best to stifle them as the phone was answered.

“Peter, why in the hell are you calling me at 4:15 in the morning. You better have a damn good reason.” Tony didn’t waste a second getting to the point. He normally was a little more pleasant when answering the calls of his high school prodigy, but he barely slept as it was and he did not need these ass-crack-of-dawn phone calls from a certain teen. Peter felt shame well up in his chest.

“I’m sorry Mr. Stark I didn’t mean to wake you and I’ll make it up to you I swear but I need you to come to the CVS across from my building and buy me something I’m not old enough-” Peter rambled, half-delirious with fever.

“I’m going to stop you right there, kid. I was a teenager once, so I get it. But you cannot call me this early and ask me to come and buy you alcohol.” Tony interrupted. “I don’t think it’s very mature to call your boss about this.” 

As Peter listened, he felt his eyes begin to well up with hot tears. One rolled down his flushed cheek and he hastily wiped at it. He huffed, mad at himself for getting so emotional. What is happening to me, I’m being such a baby. Tony won’t want an Avenger who cries.

“Cough syrup,” Peter choked out, his voice raspy with sickness and emotion. “I need you to buy me cough syrup.” Tony made a surprised noise.

“And why would you need me for that?”

“You have to be 18 to buy certain types of medicine because kids were using them to make drugs or something. I know it’s stupid but I need it.” The breath got caught in his throat and he was dissolving into the worst coughing fit of the night before he had time to stop it. Thirty seconds had passed and Peter still couldn’t get a decent breath in. 

He swayed and had to steady himself on the cash register. The cashier grabbed his young customer by the shoulder to make sure he didn’t fall and crack his head open. He didn’t want to be the first employee at the store to let a customer die. He probably wouldn’t get a raise for that.

Peter heard Tony yelling through the phone but couldn’t quite make out what he was saying.

“Peter? Peter! Talk to me, kid, what’s going on,” Tony went from half asleep to fully alert at the sound of the fifteen-year-old coughing up a lung. 

“Peter, deep breaths. Talk to me.” 

Peter followed the instructions, waiting for the wheezing to die down before he answered.

“I feel really sick. Aunt May is on a business trip and we’re out of medicine and I came here to buy some but I’m not old enough and I called you and I’m sorry I just need someone to buy this.” Peter said in one breath. Tony must hate him.

“Woah Pete, slow down. If it’s that bad, I’ll come pick you up. You obviously need help and I don’t want you home alone right now. Happy and I will be there in 10 minutes. Ok, kid?” Tony was surprised at how calm he sounded. He was panicking a bit at how awful the kid sounded, but he knew better than to let his panic color his voice. Peter’s answer added to Tony’s panic.

“Please hurry.”

The kid never said less than 10 words in his sentences. Two words? Pete must be feeling dreadful to keep the conversation short.

“Hang in there, Pete. We’re coming.”

***

10 minutes later, a silver Audi rolled to a stop in front of CVS Pharmacy. The passenger door popped open and out stepped Tony Stark, looking quite impeccable given the time of day. 

The door jingled as it was opened and the cashier’s mouth gaped. Never in a million years would he picture himself meeting a celebrity, let alone meeting Iron Man at 4:30 on a Thursday morning. He released his grip on the kid, who hadn’t moved a muscle from the spot he was in except when he needed to cough. He watched as Tony wrapped his arm around the shivering teenager and flashed his driver’s license at the cashier.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll be buying that medicine now. Thanks for making sure he didn’t die,” Tony addressed the still-gaping man behind the counter and handed him a bill. “This should cover it.”

The man looked down at his hand to find a hundred dollar bill. He looked up to face his idol once more, but Iron Man and his charge were gone.

***

Peter could honestly say that he had no recollection of getting in the car and he didn’t become fully aware of his surroundings until he let out three rapid sneezes into the sleeve of his hoodie. He looked around, noting an exhausted looking Happy driving and Tony sitting next to him, his eyes boring into the side of Peter’s skull. Peter turned to Tony with a sniffle.

“When did I get in the car?” he croaked. Tony blinked slowly and reached a hand over. His cool, slightly callused hand settled on Peter’s forehead, eliciting a whimper of relief.

“Your hand feels good.”

“You’re burning up, kid. No wonder you can’t focus.” Tony went to pull his hand back but Peter grabbed his wrist before he could.

“Please. It’s so hot in here.” Peter whined. He mentally cringed at how needy he sounded, but Tony didn’t seem phased. He only felt his concern increase when Peter started to emit chesty coughs and rubbed his sternum with his fist.

“It huuurts.” He groaned. He figured that all self-respect was out the window at this point. He finally had someone to complain to. Tony rolled his eyes ever so slightly.

“You shouldn’t have let it get this bad, Pete. Were you out in the snow tonight?”

“…”

“Peter Parker. Were you out in the snow for patrol when you were already sick: yes or no.”

“Okay, okay, I was, but I needed to! New York isn’t going to protect itself. They need me,” Peter relented, “And I wasn’t even that sick earlier.”

“How do you feel now?” Tony looked Peter up and down. The teen was a shivering, pale mess. His nose was raw and his cheeks were flushed. Knowing Peter, he would try to downplay his illness. But to Tony’s surprise, Peter answered truthfully.

“Bad. Everything hurts and I’m so cold but I’m sweating.” He closed his eyes slowly. Tony made a noise that Peter couldn’t quite decipher but next thing he knew, his head was in the older man’s lap.

“I’ll give you some meds when we get back to the tower and you can stay as long as you need to. Until then, Pete, just get some sleep.”

Peter smiled ever so slightly, knowing that Tony would take good care of him. The man was hard on him and too often treated him like a toddler, but Peter knew Tony cared much more than he’d ever admit. 

Peter closed his eyes once more, and slept.


End file.
